The Wailin’ Jennys are three Canadian contemporary singer/songwriters, and while Cara Luft, Nicky Mehta and Ruth Moody are all established artists in their own right, the combination of the three together has created an album that really stands out from the crowd.
The opening track ‘One Voice’ starts simply with just Ruth Moody and an acoustic guitar, but builds into the perfect demonstration as to what makes this disc special – the sound of the three singing together is stunning, and there’s a beautiful simplicity and balance to the harmonies that never fails to stop you dead in your tracks. 
The 13 songs on ’40 Days’ are a mixture of their own material sitting alongside 2 covers and 2 traditional pieces; this combination of songs is perfectly suited to the varied instrumentation and musical approach. The disc is acoustic guitar based and feels like a contemporary singer/songwriter album, but there are obvious references to traditional folk and the two styles mix together seamlessly mainly due to the subtle arrangements and excellent use of instrumentation such as mandolin, various keyboards and percussion.
There are many highlights here, ‘One Voice’ is a striking simple and beautiful song; ‘Ten Mile Stilts’ is an excellent contemporary singer/songwriter track, and the final song, the traditional ‘The Parting Glass’ is an excellent showcase for their vocals and harmonies.
’40 Days’ is a stunning album, the vocals are strong but understated and the arrangements varied and intelligent – one of the most memorable discs of the past 12 months.

£13.49